


a merry little christmas

by fastestmanalive



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Christmas, Friends With Benefits, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-31
Packaged: 2018-05-07 11:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5455616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fastestmanalive/pseuds/fastestmanalive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>written for <a href="http://olivarryweek.tumblr.com/post/135409750694/hii-everyone-i-hope-youre-all-ready-for-some">Christmas Weekend 2015</a><br/>I'm hoping to incorporate all three prompts into this fic so I don't have to write one for each day. I hope this works out lmao</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starrxlorrd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrxlorrd/gifts).



> written for [Christmas Weekend 2015](http://olivarryweek.tumblr.com/post/135409750694/hii-everyone-i-hope-youre-all-ready-for-some)  
> I'm hoping to incorporate all three prompts into this fic so I don't have to write one for each day. I hope this works out lmao

“You're lucky I like you.”

Oliver grinned and turned his head, watching as Barry peeled his snow-wet jacket from his shoulders and toed off his shoes. He drew his blanket tighter around himself; just watching his friend shivering from the cold made him shudder. “I didn't tell you to go outside.”

“I was getting _food_ ,” Barry protested, holding up the Big Belly Burger bag he was clutching as proof. “I honestly don't know how you survive without it.”

“I have food.”

“You have canned soup. That's not food.”

“But burgers are?” Oliver snorted. “How did you even get inside? I was downstairs earlier, the door's completely blocked.”

Barry shrugged. “Ran up the building wall.”

“Of course you did,” Oliver mumbled with a frown. “No, why would you do that? You could've slipped--”

Barry rolled his eyes and ran into Oliver's bathroom, leaving the bag on the coffee table. Oliver shook his head amusedly and turned on the TV; he was just considering letting an old, black and white Christmas movie play when Barry called from the bathroom.

“I thought you don't get cold.”

Oliver chuckled. “What do you mean? I don't--”

He let out a scream – more like an embarrassing shriek, but he'd deny that until the day he died – as Barry pressed a freezing cold piece of cloth against his neck. “What the--”

A fit of giggles – and yes, they were giggles, Oliver made sure to remind Barry every now and then – escaped Barry's lips. “C'mon, Ollie, don't be such a grump.”

Oliver grumbled despite himself, burrowing further into his blanket.

Barry's laughter died suddenly. “Are you okay?” he whispered and walked around the couch to sit down next to Oliver. “I'm sorry if I--”

“I'm fine.” Oliver gave him a small smile. “It's just... Christmas.”

Barry pursed his lips in thought, eventually nodding. “Do you want to talk? Because... you know I'm here for you, right?”

Trying not to let the surge of affection for his friend show, Oliver pressed his lips together. “I know. Really, I just wanna have a nice evening, some distraction. There's more than enough time to wallow tomorrow.”

Barry's smile transformed into a smirk – Oliver knew where this was going. “So you want distraction, I need to warm up... I have a few ideas that would benefit us both.”

“Barry.” Oliver put a hand on Barry's shoulder as he leaned closer. “We said we'd stop... _this_. Stay friends.”

Barry bit his lip and shook his head. “Don't pin this on me. You were the one who said we shouldn't have sex because it might ruin our friendship.” Barry cocked his head, lips stretched into a warm smile. “We're still friends, though, aren't we?”

Oliver let his eyes flit over Barry's face, just for a moment, and groaned. “Why can't I say no to you?”

Barry looked pleased with himself. “I guess I just have one of those faces.”

“That doesn't even make sense--”

“Just promise me something.”

Oliver arched his brows. “Uhm. Okay?”

“Come to the West Christmas party next week?” Barry's hand wormed its way under Oliver's blanket to take his hand and squeeze. “We really missed you last year. And, you know, with what happened there...” Barry frowned; Oliver guessed he was still mad that no one had told him about his apparent death for months. “You can bring the others, of course. I'd just like you to be there. All of you,” he rushed to say, a faint pink blush dusting his cheeks. “The whole team's invited, obviously.”

“I'd love to come.”

“Oh. That's-- Good. I mean.” Oliver hadn't noticed the tension in Barry's shoulders, but it seemed to loosen now. He smiled and lifted the blanket to pull it over Barry as well. “I'm looking forward to it.”

“Can we make out now?” Oliver grinned when Barry huffed.

“That's what I've been saying, Ollie.”

“C'mere then.” Oliver cupped Barry's cheek gently and leaned forward with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaah I'm so sorry this is so late I'm awful

To Oliver's surprise, Christmas at the West's was... nice. He'd been worried that they wouldn't be welcome, that Barry had invited them without his family knowing, but everyone welcomed them with open arms – at least where the others were concerned; Detective West eyed him suspiciously for a moment before walking off to talk to John. Barry and Iris, on the other hand, seemed thrilled to see him.

“Oliver!” Iris threw her arms around him without warning, squeezing him tightly.

“Hey Iris.” Over her shoulder, he grinned at Barry who was watching them with an unreadable expression. As soon as she let go of him and walked over to Felicity, he stepped closer to Barry. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.” He moved to hug Oliver but then stopped in his tracks, glancing to the others. “Uhm...”

Oliver snorted. “C'mon.” He pulled Barry into a tight embrace, tucking his chin over his friend's shoulder. The tension in Barry's shoulders seemed to evaporate as he melted against Oliver for a moment before letting go.

“I'm glad you could make it,” he whispered with a soft smile.

Oliver missed his warmth instantly. “Wouldn't have missed it for the world.”

Barry's hand lingered on his arm, and he had that unreadable look in his eyes again. They both turned to join the others around the Christmas tree, where Joe was passing out mugs of his – as he called it – famous eggnog. Oliver accepted one gladly. He figured that he was going to have to get drunk and make his friends think they needed to take him to their hotel – he didn't see how else he was supposed to stay away from Barry.

The other man looked particularly gorgeous at the moment, even more so than usual. Even though his Christmas sweater was ridiculous – bright red with small, dark green trees all over it and a big red reindeer on his chest – it hugged his lithe frame in all the right places. The warm light from the fireplace and the candles on the Christmas tree gave his fair skin a soft, golden glow. Once Cisco, Caitlin and Jay – Earth-2's speedster, apparently, and Oliver was definitely going to inquire about it later – arrived, Oliver slinked back into the corner to watch the commotion from a distance. Barry looked happy, content, like all his worries from the past year had suddenly disappeared. Oliver couldn't help but smile at the sight.

“Oooooh.” Hearing Thea's voice right next to him made him startle. “You like him. That's so cute.”

“What're you talking about?” Oliver huffed. “I'm just--”

“Staring at Allen, thinking nobody'll notice.”

“I'm not staring at anyone. I'm... surveying my surroundings.”

“Right.” Thea snorted, trying to hide an obvious smile behind the rim of her mug. “You should go over to him, you know. Actually talk to him, not just gawk.”

“I am not gawking,” Oliver hissed and looked down at the mug he was holding, trying to fight a blush from spreading over his cheeks.

“Suuuuure.”

“Alright, if I go over and talk to Barry, will you leave me alone?”

He rolled his eyes as Thea grinned at him, nudging his elbow with hers. “I'll think about it.”

 

“Hey.”

Barry turned with a bright smile etched to his lips. “Hi,” he replied softly, stepping aside as Caitlin squeezed past him to get to Jay and involuntarily being closer to Oliver.

“This is really nice,” Oliver said quietly, giving Barry a small smile. “Thank you for inviting us.”

“Of course.” Barry rolled his shoulders and bit his lip, clutching his half-empty mug tightly. “I-- I wanted to spend the holidays with you. _All_ of you,” he added quickly, failing to hide a blush.

“Yeah.” Clearing his throat, he put his mug down on the mantlepiece and leaned closer. “Listen, Barry, I--”

“Uhm, guys?” Felicity's voice startled them both, prompting them to turn around. “You, uh--”

“Oh god,” Thea giggled. “This is _gold_.”

“What--?” Oliver saw Iris' wide eyes, Cisco rolling his eyes, and John staring at them with a grin – no, he was looking at a spot above them. “Oh. Uhm. Look, we don't have to--”

“It's tradition, isn't it?” Oliver winced when he saw the forced smile on Barry's face. “Cait and Jay had to do it too. C'mon.”

Oliver took a step closer so Barry would hear his whisper. “Are you sure?”

Barry rolled his eyes. “Yes. Let's just get this over with.”

After another glance to their audience – Joe had crossed his arms over his chest and was looking at them with narrowed eyes, looking decidedly unhappy with the situation – Oliver leaned in.

At the first touch of lips, his hand involuntarily came up to cup Barry's cheek, a motion so familiar to both of them that they smiled against each other's mouths. Barry's hand dropped to his hip, squeezing gently, comfortingly. Oliver had to force himself to hold back; he kept his lips closed, removed his hand from Barry's chin, tried not to move or lean into the kiss too much. He was very much aware of the people, their friends, watching them and probably wondering why they weren't separating yet; he regretted that he couldn't get lost in Barry, not this time.

“So, uh...” Barry was the first to pull away, eyes downcast.

“Wow,” Thea's voice sounded from the other side of the otherwise quiet room. “You guys should... go outside.” Oliver turned his head to frown at her, feeling puffs of Barry's breath on his cheek. “You know. To talk.”

“I--”

“Yes,” Barry interrupted quickly. “Yes, we're gonna-- leave. Uhm. I... I have to show Oliver something. Outside. Really important.”

Confused at Barry's babbling, and embarrassed that everyone was gaping at them, Oliver let himself be led out on the porch, door slammed shut behind him and Barry.

 

“Oh. I forgot--” Only a _woosh_ -sound suggested that Barry had raced back inside. “Here.”

“I told you I don't get cold, Barry,” Oliver mumbled but took his coat anyway.

“It's freezing. Just... put it on? Please?” Reluctantly, Oliver slipped his arms into his coat sleeves.

They sat down on the wood bench, huddling together for warmth.

“So...” Barry began, glancing up with a shy smile. “Talk?”

Oliver hummed. “I don't know...”

“I really like you.” Barry huffed out a small laugh, shaking his head slightly. “I mean, you're one of my best friends, but... you're also something else.” When he realised he wouldn't get an answer just yet, Barry sighed. “I want to be with you, Ollie. Like, for real. I don't want to hide it, hide _us_.” He worried his lip between his teeth nervously. “Could you just... say something? Anything? I'm feeling kind of vulnerable right now.”

Oliver smiled softly and put a hand atop Barry's where it was resting on his thigh. “I like you too. 'Course I do. I just--”

“What do you suppose they think we're doing right now?” Barry interrupted with a tentative smile.

“Well.” Oliver grinned. “They probably think we're... continuing what we started under the mistletoe.”

“And-- What do you want to do? I mean. We should probably have this conversation. Now. Even if you don't want-- uhm. If you don't feel the same-- We should--”

“I do want to be with you, Bar.” Oliver sighed. “But this... This is gonna be difficult. Long distance sucks.”

“I know.”

“You still wanna do this?”

“Don't you?”

Oliver bit his lip. “I do.” He let Barry lean their foreheads against each other for a moment. “We should find somewhere quiet and more private to talk.”

“Yeah.” Barry chuckled. “I bet they're already making bets and all.”

“Let's just take off.”

“On Christmas?”

“We can come back later. We can just... go to my hotel room. 'S not that far away.”

Hesitating for a moment, Barry eventually nodded and stood. “Race you to the hotel?” he challenged with a grin.

Oliver returned it instantly. “'Course. I'll even let you win this time.”

 


End file.
